Changes proposed in Kansas citizen grand jury law

Monday

Mar 25, 2013 at 12:00 PM

A bill before the Kansas Legislature would change a state law that allows citizens to convene grand juries.

AP

A bill before the Kansas Legislature would change a state law that allows citizens to convene grand juries.Supporters say the current law is ineffective because prosecutors manipulate the grand juries to stop citizen complaints.Opponents say changing the law would politicize the grand juries.The Kansas City Star reports the citizen grand jury was designed to let citizens pursue wrongdoing overlooked by prosecutors. But prosecutors control which witnesses are called.One of the proposed changes would require the person filing a petition to be the first to address the grand jury. Currently, no witnesses have to be called. Another change would allow anybody to file a written request with prosecutors or the grand jury foreman to testify before the grand jury.